Improvement in metallic columns



JOHNAKAY`$ IM PRQVEMENT IN METLIC EOLUMNS UNITED STATES PATENT CEEICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN METALLIC COLUMNS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 118,021, dated August 15, 1871.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. KAY, of St. Charles, in the county of St. Charles and State of Missouri, have invented certain Improvements in Metallic Columns; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawing which accompanies and forms part of this specication, is a description of my invention, suflicient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

My invention has for its object the production of a novel and attractive style of metallic tubular column, combining lightness, strength, and econ-- omy, and adapted for buildings, bridges, trestles, and architectural purposes generally; and it consists in a compound cohunn, composed of a group of metallic tubes, connected by metallic bands, which serve at the same time to bind together the parallel tubes and to connect the sections.

By way of illustrating my invention I have shown the same in the iigures of sheet 1 and in Fig. 12 of sheet 2 of the drawing', with the outer tubes coupled to the style of column known in the market as the Phoenix column, the latter, as is well-known, bein g made ofwrought-iron longitud'- inal sections united together so as to form a tube.

Figure 1 is an elevation of one ofmy compound columns, in which A is the central or Phoenix column. B B represent the external tubes arranged around the central one 5 C, a coupling-band, cast of iron or other metal; and D and E, respectively a base and a cap of cast-iron or other metal. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan at a b a little above the base. Fig. 3 is a plan of the cap E looking upward. Fig. 4 is a section on line c d. Fig. 5 is a top and bottom view of one ot' my connecting-bands, showing different arrangements for coupling grouped for convenience oi' illustration in the same ligure.

. Figs. 6 to 10, inclusive, are vertical sections taken on the respective lines indicated in Figs. 2, 3, and 5. Fig. 11 shows modiiications in construction of the central colinnn and of the connecting-band and cap; Fig. 12, an exterior view of a column modified to adapt it to architecture; Figs. 13 to 23, inclusive, illustrate in cross-section some of the varieties of columns which may be made under my invention.

The essential features oi`..the base and cap are that they shall each either have depression s adapted as to size and relative position to receive and hold snugly the ends of the several tubes which compose the compound column, as, for instance, at 1 in Figs. 2, 10, and 11, or that they shall have corresponding bosses or elevc tions, annular or otherwise, which shall enter the ends of such tubes, as, for instance, at 2 in Figs. 2,3, 6, 7,10, and 11. The essential feature of the couplingband or bands is thatthey shall be so made or cast as to have openings of proper size and in appropriate places to admit the central column and also the several tubes through them,and hold them all to their true relative positions 5 and also when one section of tube is placed above and coupled to another in the construction of one of my columns that the band shall have appropriate tenonsockets, female j oints, or equivalent or well-known provision for forming a strong and durable connection for the two adjacent or abuttingends. In the figures I have shown a number of Ways inf which I construct these bands and make these connections. It is evident, however, that many other mechanical equivalents of these modes of construction may be used in carrying out my invention. At the left-hand side of Fig. 8 I have shown the band as receiving the ends 5 6 of two sections of the outer tube B, mounted one upon the oth er, a short inner sleeve, 7, lappingthe joint ofthe tubes. At the right side of Fig. 8 that part ofthe band which receives the ends of the two outer sections 9 and 10 is made solid and with recesses or cavities 11, as seen. At l2, Fig. 9, annular bosses 13 andlt enter the bores ofthe sections of the tube. .At l5, Fig. 9, sleevebearers or collars 16 are affixed to the exterior of the tubes near their ends and rest upon the coupling-band, the tubes passing through the band. The ends of the section of tube may in this mode ot connection come together, as shown, or not, as may be expedient. These sleeve-bearers or rings may be screwed to the tubing or attached by set-screws in the ring. At 17 Fig. 11, I have shown for joining two sections of the central column a couplingband having a tenon-socket, 18 18, cast integral with the baud. A threaded sleeve placed inside the ends of two tubes or pipes may serve to connect them, the ends of the tubes bearing on the casting or band. The exterior ofthe bands, caps, e

or bases may be made or ornamented with any desirable moldin gs, or iioral or other embellishments. Any available form of casting and coupling may be used to connect the tubes at their various stages of height 5 and also to couple the central or main tubes to the casting should it be necessary to use th em in tiers to obtain the height required From the above it will be seen that my com.

pound column can be made of any desired height, although made up of short sections; that great strength is secured with comparative lightness 5 that as the Phoenix and Keystone and similar columns are rolled in sections of diii'erentthicknesses to suit the strength required, and the Wrought or cast-iron tubing or pipe added in my invention gives with the uniting'bands great additional strength, I can use a lighter size of central column than has heretofore been used to support a given Weight; and the coupling of the tubes around the column by means of the bands may be at regular or alternate intervals, as the market shapes, sizes, and lengths may demand or occasion may require. Any kind of metal may be used adapted to the purpose for which the column is employed, and the central column may be of east as'Well as of Wrought metal. In some cases I combine a Wrought-iron central column or shaft of any known make, shape, or pattern with external tubin gs m ade of ca st-iron or any other metal suitable for the purpose, the caps and bases of the compound column being of any desired shape and connected together in like manner, as above stated. rlhe central column may run from base to cap, and the smaller pipes or colonnettes be coupled and banded at any desired height.

The colonnettes may break joints alternately with each other or with the central tube, or otherwise, as desired and for great heights two, three, or more central or Phoenix columns may be combined in clusters in the same manner as herein described. rlhe colonnette-tubes or pipes maybe drawn or lap-Welded or cast. The shape of the material covering the flanges of the central shaft may be varied, as, for example, in

Fig. 15. A false base may be used, as shown in' lVitnesses J ULIUs MoULToN, LUoiUs ROBINSON. 

